Shattered Grid
by AvalonBay
Summary: The evil green ranger was converted to good and sent to colonial Angel Grove. But when it's found the evil spell cast over him was only dormant for so long, the green ranger, now known as Lord Drakkon, goes on a bloodthirsty rampage of revenge. It's up to the rangers of all time to show Lord Drakkon what it truly means to hold the power of the morphing grid. Rating may go up. AU.
1. Prologue

**Shattered Grid**

 **Summary** **– The evil green ranger was converted to good and sent to colonial ancient grove. But when it's found the evil spell cast over him was only dormant for so long, the green ranger, now known as Lord Drakkon, goes on a bloodthirsty rampage of revenge. It's up to the rangers of all time to show Lord Drakkon what it truly means to hold the power of the morphing grid.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

He'd been sent to colonial times.

Sent away as there wasn't a chance for him to live in the same vicinity as his original form. Original. As if he were any different. He was the same as that 'original'. He overcame the same obstacles. Managed to turn back from being the green ranger. Then he was shipped off. He had no control over any part of his life.

He was created to fight against the Power Rangers, to take down Tommy. To take down the White Ranger for Rita and Zedd. That was his earliest memory. He was created to fight Tommy. And had almost succeeded. Then he was turned good and sent away to Colonial Times. Sent away as if he were nothing. He was sure the others didn't give a rat's ass about him. They were a team.

Fuck no.

They weren't a team. They were people he wanted to destroy. They were people he wanted revenge on. He still had his powers. It was funny, when he first used his powers, things were going great. He was able to defend those around him. Then things started to change. The more he morphed, the more he felt the darkness creeping back into him. The more he felt his anger, pure unadulterated rage continue to swell. The longer he was morphed, the greater it became until he was fighting viciously. Working more as a monster than as a ranger.

The public was starting to notice. Starting to become afraid of him. He didn't care.

He needed to show how powerful he was. How powerful he could become. How he was one of the strongest rangers in existence and could continue to become even stronger. He should've been the one leading the team and knew it. Soon he would have the chance to do so. He was almost strong enough. They wouldn't know what hit him when he came back.

With a sigh, he ran his hands over his white, green, and gold festooned cloak. He remembered the words he'd said to Tommy the first time.

 _"I am the Green Ranger! Only I'm more powerful than you, White Ranger. So, you gonna fight against yourself?"_

He couldn't wait to say it again, all the while slowly killing him.

* * *

 **A/N:** So I've read Shattered Grid and I love it so far, there's so much going on and the plot is just so interesting. I love it so much that I decided to try my own hand with it. So this is my version! Some events will be the same, others will be different. Either way, I still hope you guys enjoy it. And as I say with most of my stories, I'm unsure if Av and Bay will be in it but I'm excited for the plot overall.

 **~Av**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

* * *

Angel Grove.

A peaceful city filled with everything anyone could ever imagine. The suburbs, the city, a downtown area, the schools and universities, the community park, and everything for the residents of all ages. The residents of Angel Grove, totaling 376,000, were a community.

If there was a theft or any sort of crime, the police handled it swiftly and with the city's support. If any resident found themselves displaced from their house, the community would come together to ensure they continued to have a place to live. On almost a monthly basis there was a fundraiser to support a cause that the residents strongly participated in, from saving the fire house, to the conservatory, to raising money for the boy and girl scout troops of Angel Grove, to helping the Youth Center when Ernie fell on hard times and was at risk of losing everything.

Then there was the city of Angel Grove all together. It appeared like a quaint city, one who would grow up, move away, and ultimately move back just because there was no city like Angel Grove. It was an understatement how true that was. No other city in California was nestled against the desert. And no other city's desert held a mysterious building that appeared to a be a mirage to those who managed to wander so far. There one minute, gone the next. Only those that could see it, would see it. Only those that were allowed inside knew what the building truly held.

For Angel Grove wasn't a regular city in the United States. No, Angel Grove was special. It was special for one reason. It was special because of the Power Rangers. One day, upon a space exploration that opened what appeared to be a dumpster found on the moon, monsters descended from the sky and continued to put the lives of the Angel Grove residents in peril. Within the initial moments of fear and confusion came their saviors, the Power Rangers. Since then, the Power Rangers did nothing but save the residents every day without expecting much in return. One minute the residents would be in peril the next, the rainbow-colored heroes would race towards the danger and save the city without a second thought.

Whether it escalated into needing their mechanical robots to defeat gigantic versions of the monsters they faced, the Power Rangers did the best they could to save the city, even helping in the relief efforts that came next, repairing any damages that came across, helping to raise money for those evacuated.

That was the perfect Angel Grove.

Lord Drakkon's Angel Grove ran differently. Lord Drakkon's Angel Grove ran under his rule. Everything he said went and no one dared opposed him. That was the Angel Grove he'd conquered after defeating the Power Rangers. After decimating their zords and conquered Earth. Worked alongside Finster 5 to slowly conquer the world, city by city. One by one, they all bowed down to him. And through his conquering, he created an army to continue to move himself forward, to strongarm those that opposed him into defeat. The Reanger Sentries, his answer to the Coinless.

But The Coinless fought back and managed to get the upper hand. He had no choice but to go back into hiding while he worked to get back to strength, get back to power. Then, finally, he was captured. Lord Drakkon awoke to find himself chained to the walls of a cell. A cell within, what he later found out to be, the Promethea Complex.

 _They think they can hold me,_ Lord Drakkon thought, watching the guards move back and forth in front of him. _They think they can make me talk. They think they can break me._ A slow, sinister smile came to his face. _Wait until they see what I can really do._

* * *

"Let's see what this thing can really do," Tommy Oliver murmured. He grasped the two joysticks in front of him, wrapping his fingers around the grooves that'd hold them in place. A slow smile came to his face, feeling his White Tiger zord slowly come to life, raising itself from its laying position. "Whoa."

"Alright, we're going to run our zords at almost full power," Billy Cranston's voice came through the communication systems, ringing around Tommy's head. "But be careful with it. The controls are very sensitive and I don't want them to take too much damage before we go into our next battle."

"No problems, Billy," Zack Taylor replied. Tommy could hear the excitement in the black ranger's voice. Despite not being able to see him, he was sure Zack's Mastodon zord was already lumbering its way through the dense jungle. "We want to be as successful as you do. Buuut, we want to have some more fun with it, too."

Tommy could hear Billy's disapproving 'tsk', almost as if it were next to him, and grinned to himself. Tommy turned his attention to the large window of his zord. The window that worked as the eyes of his zord. Looked at the view. And what a view it was. The rangers had all teleported to Africa specifically for their training, finding an area that Billy located with the Command Center's equipment that would be a good place for them to work. And so, one by one, they climbed into their zords, deep beneath the Earth, within a chamber of the Command Center, and allowed their zords to take their own controls to pilot them there. Then it was time to wait.

The lush green forest stretched out in front of Tommy, skillfully shielding himself from anyone that'd come by. The panel in front of him, sliding out a round shape, similar to a fish bowl. A bright light flashed over it, before it filled in with colors. Red, Blue, Pink, and Yellow. All small dots on the very edge of the dome. Tracking for the other zords. So far, none of them had started to move. Or, Tommy realized, he wasn't close enough to see if they'd started to move.

Carefully, Tommy pulled back on the joysticks, allowing his zord to slowly start to lumber forward. The White Tiger zord slowly started to pick up speed as it went. All four of the legs of the White Tiger moved faster and faster. The mechanics of the zord moved easily, as if it were a real tiger racing through the woods. It picked up speed at blinding speed, the greenery racing by him like splotches of paint on a canvas. The forces against Tommy slowly pushed him further and further into his seat.

An exhilarated whoop escaped Tommy's lips.

It was amazing. He'd already felt connected to his zord, but it was something else. No matter what Tommy did, the zord immediately reacted to it. If he tugged on the joysticks to move the zord to the side, it'd shift aside, the rock he was about to hit whizzed by. If he pulled back sharply, then the zord would jump.

"Man, Billy, whatever you did to our zords, it's amazing," Tommy said. He licked his lips, the tip of his tongue gently pressing against the soft bulb covering of the headset microphone that rested before his lips. He could feel the g-forces make his arms start to tire. They were extended fully, holding onto the joysticks with as much strength he could muster. "I can't believe we haven't had it before."

"All those long nights in the Command Center must've paid off," Trini Kwan added. Her sweet voice sounded just as enthused, if not more. Though Trini wasn't always as excitable as the rest, even she couldn't keep herself as calm.

"Well, there may still be some bugs in the system," Billy responded. He tried to sound modest but Billy could tell he was pleased with the response. "Just let me know if there's anything you notice and I'll be sure to fix it."

Zack's taunting voice came a second later. "You mean like this?" It was abruptly followed by a loud _boom_ that sounded off somewhere to Tommy's left. He glanced down at the tracking system, noticing the black and blue dots were rapidly coming close together.

"I _said_ to go easy on them!" Billy huffed. "I don't want things to become too damaged if we're thrust in another—"There was another explosion sound and when Billy spoke again, a note of challenge entered his voice. "Oh yeah? Take this!"

 _Thwoom!_

This time the dust cloud was even closer. In the distance, Tommy could hear the mechanical parts of their zords grinding against each other. Okay, if it was a fight they wanted, they got it. "Let's see how you handle this, Zack." He turned his zord to the side, following their locations.

He surged forward, ready to attack, when his zord was suddenly hit from the side at alarming speeds. "Whoa!" Tommy's hair flew around his face, his zord crashing to the side. His zord crashed to the ground, legs flailing. "What was that?"

"You know the White Tiger is a direct descendent of the Saber-Tooth Right?" Trini teased. Tommy looked over and saw her zord slowly creeping its way through the underbrush. Hidden by the foliage; so expertly hidden he hadn't noticed her.

"Actually, that's not quite exactly true," Billy corrected her.

Trini ignored him. She gave Tommy the opportunity to get back to his feet, lowering the front of her zord. Its hindquarters shifted back and forth, like a cat taunting its prey. "Let's see who's the better Tiger, shall we? Though, I have to remind you, I was one longer."

Tommy grinned back. "And you've taught me everything I know," Tommy returned. "But I haven't taught you everything I know." The two zords started to race each other, each emitting a loud, growl as it went. The two continued to race towards each other before a low swooping sound emanated, a shadow passing over their zords.

Reaching out, Tommy slammed his foot on the brakes. The zord came to a screeching halt, nearly throwing him forward. If it weren't for the seatbelt slung across his chest, Tommy was sure he would've gone straight through the windshield. A low gasp escaped his lips and he craned his neck upwards, trying to see what it was.

Kimberly Hart's laugh blared through their speakers. "I never pegged you to be someone who was afraid of birds," she teased.

"Technically, pterodactyls aren't birds either," Billy said.

But Kimberly continued to laugh as she piloted her zord around to swoop through the air. She came back aground, firing off bullets from the canons that lined the winds of her zord. Tommy pushed forward them pulled backwards on his joysticks, making the White Tiger zord leap straight up then backwards.

This time Billy, Trini, Zack, and Kimberly all laughed. Tommy's face flushed. Just what he didn't need. For his zord to look like a proverbial scaredy cat. Scared shitless and ready to run away. "Okay, Billy, you weren't joking about how sensitive these controls are."

"No, I wasn't," Billy said. "Allow me to demonstrate further."

And their zords were locked in battle, twisting back and forth as the five rangers searched for an opening. Their exhilarated laughter rang through their cockpits as they went around and around. Finally, Kimberly found herself to be victorious, an added advantage of being able to swoop in and out of even the tiniest spaces. She started to do a victor lap before a loud roar pierced the air and her zord was batted to the ground by a swing of the Tyrannosaurus zord's tail.

"Damn it, Jason!" Tommy cried.

"You sly dog, I forgot about you!" Zack added.

"No fair!" Kimberly pouted.

"Good tactical strategy," Billy congratulated.

"I should've known you had something up your sleeve," Trini said.

The Tyrannosaurus zord roared once more. "Well, you know what they say; the best offense is a good defense," Jason said. Even though Tommy couldn't see his friend's face, he could tell Jason was grinning in triumph. "And sometimes that means lying in wait for the best opportunity to strike. Or, not strike as was the case."

"Don't start going all Billy on us, Jase," Zack said sarcastically. "Your smugness is really unbecoming."

"Good word, Zack," Trini teased. "Have you been studying for your SATs?"

"Yeah, how'd you know? I have a new word every day."

"Rangers," Alpha's voice boomed through their speakers. "It is time to the Command Center." A pause and then. "Initiating docking sequence."

Tommy gasped and pulled his hands back from the joysticks as they started to frantically wiggle back and forth. At the same time, their zords all roared before charging their way back to the Command Center. Tommy leaned back and closed his eyes, allowing the zord to do its work. It was the best thing, he thought, about being a ranger. Having connections with their zords, their zords having minds of their own but following along with the rangers' every move. Almost as if they were pets of their own, but different all the same.

His breathing steadied, eyes fluttering shut. His breathing evened out. Falling into a dreamlike trance as he settled into his seat. A lot more energy was taken out of him than he thought. His arms felt heavy. How hard had he been holding onto the controls of his zord? Long enough. Tommy tried to lift his arms to rub his eyes, but found his arms stuck his sides. His fingers twitched, but he couldn't find the strength to lift his hands. Almost as if his arms were shackled at his sides.

A jolt shot through the White Tiger zord, making Tommy's eyes open. He waited as his zord docked before unbuckling and standing up. He left the cockpit and walked to the back of the cockpit and put himself in the elevator. He leaned back against it, allowing his hair to fall over his face as he yawned. The doors opened at the base of his zord and Tommy came out, smiling along with his friends as they crowded around Billy to congratulate him on a job well done.

"I've never felt like that before," Trini said. "Like…like my zord and I were actually one."

"Okay, Trini," Zack said. He held up his hand. "Now we know what you get up to when you're alone. It's great that you wanted to share, but I don't think I needed to know that much." He ducked his head, raising his shoulders when Jason shoved him hard on the arm. "What? I was kidding, man! We all know she only has eyes for—"

"—What I _meant_ ," Trini swiftly interrupted, glaring daggers at Zack. "Is that everything I did…it was like my zord was an extension of me. It knew what I was going to do before I did it."

"Same," Kimberly agreed. Her voice sounded mystified. "Like it was the first time I truly knew what it was like to work with my zord." She tucked her hair behind her ears. "Did anyone else feel that way?" She looked around at her friends who all nodded.

Tommy pressed his lips together. It was silly in a way, to feel that he was so mystified about it. And then he felt embarrassed for feeling silly. They were all part of the same team, had been for years now. They'd been rangers since freshman year, and in a few months, would be graduating and heading out for college.

How many more times would they be able to do what they were doing? What would happen when they left Angel Grove and went their separate ways? What would it mean if they were in class and their communicators went off? Were they still meant to keep their ranger secret even as they grew older? What would it mean if it were to be revealed then.

/ _What would it mean if you were to get caught?/_

The thought entered his head so quickly that it made Tommy frown. A question he'd wondered about numerous times and yet…the way his voice sounded in his head was sinister. An intrusive thought? Not like his own at all. A chill ran down his spine.

Tommy yawned again, rubbing his eyes. "I've never felt that way before, dude. It was awesome."

"An adrenaline rush, yeah," Zack agreed. "Exactly what I live for."

"I thought you lived to be turned down by Angela," Jason teased, folding his arms. The smile on his face was so bright, reminiscent of his 'All-American-Boy' status amongst the group and those within Angel Grove. Then Jason's eyes flickered towards Tommy and the two exchanged devious glances that Zack didn't notice. Zack chase after the queen bee had ended when she graduated. But even then, he still spoke of her when he wasn't dating other random girls. Angela was still around, going to Angel Grove University, where Zack just so happened to visit for "campus tours," as he put it with a cheeky grin.

"Hey, a man's gotta get his kicks somehow," Zack said. He reached out and patted Billy on the shoulder. "Buy this man here, he know what he's doing. If he can sell this stuff to the army, to NASA, he'd be rolling in the dough."

"I'd have to have it perfected first," Billy said with a frown. Then he looked each of the rangers in the eye. "And it's not like I can explain to anybody where I was able to learn how to do it."

"Rangers, you know it is important to keep your identities as secret," Alpha said, padding over to the rangers. His footsteps made low clunking sounds as he went. "We can't risk others finding out about us."

"We know, Alpha," Trini reassured him. "Zack's just kidding around."

"Yeah! You know I'd never reveal our secret like that, Alpha, come on," Zack said.

"Ay yi yi yi yi, you teens are your jokes." Alpha brought his hands to his head, bobbing and swaying. "I can never tell when you're joking." He lowered his hands and nodded to each of the rangers. "Zordon and I thank you for keeping your secret for so long. The responsibility on your shoulders is a tough one to bear."

"You know we'd do anything for you guys, Alpha," Jason said.

"Yeah, come on. We love you guys like you're one of our family." Kimberly wrapped her arms around Alpha and gave him a big hug. "We couldn't do anything with you. Both of you. There's nothing that we wouldn't do for you." She then placed a kiss on his chrome dome.

Alpha lowered his head even further. "Ay yi yi," he said softly. He flapped his hands. "You're going to make my circuits go into overload with this emotion."

Tommy laughed. "Why don't we get out of here before we make Alpha shut down and give Billy even more work to do."

Billy turned to Tommy and in a rare moment of unbridled cynicism shot him the finger. He smiled as the rest of the rangers all burst into loud, raucous laughter that filled the zord hangar. "He's not wrong though," Billy said. He placed his hands on his hips. "There's a lot of work I need to get done. Not just to repair the damage we've done to the zords, but I need to work on the weapons and fix Alpha, and a lot of other things to do. Mostly routine maintenance."

Tommy lowered his chin, hoping not to get caught in Billy's expectant gaze. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Kimberly and Zack, who were standing directly around him, do the same. Not that they didn't admire Billy for what he could do, but because 'routine maintenance' generally meant long nights. Very long nights. The last time Billy did routine maintenance he'd shown up to school a zombie with dark bags under his eyes. Trini, who helped him, was worse for the wear, snapping at everyone and anyone due to her own lack of sleep.

"I wish I could help," Zack said quickly. "But I promised my parents I'd help them with some stuff."

"And Tommy and I are going out on a date!" Kimberly added. Tommy looked at her in surprise. They were? Not that he wouldn't have _wanted_ to go out with his girlfriend, who was beautiful inside and out, but that they hadn't had any concrete plans. And with how busy the two of them were with their school commitments and ranger duties, spontaneity had quickly fallen out the window with them. "We're going to see _Waiting To Exhale."_

"We _are_?" Tommy couldn't keep the surprise from his voice. "Ouch!" Kimberly glared and elbowed him in the side. Tommy's shoulders slumped, knowing he wasn't going to get out of it now that she put it out there. He resisted the urge to groan. "Yeah, it should be fun."

"Dude." Zack snorted. "You just got suckered into that."

"Well, unfortunately, I can't help either," Trini said. She angled her head toward the red ranger. "I promised I'd help Jason with his class later today. Since Zack was going to be with his parents. Otherwise, I would love to help you out."

"That's alright, I'm sure once I've got Alpha fully functional he'd be able to help me." Billy didn't appear to be concerned with his friends backing away from him. Then again, as Tommy had seen a few times before, Billy managed to hold things in until it blew up and he showed moments of pure anger. Those few times had been scary.

/ _Not as scary as what's going to happen_./

Tommy's eyebrows furrowed. He looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. Frown deepened when he found no one. When he saw his friends didn't look disturbed in any way. As a matter of fact, they were saying their goodbyes to each other before breaking off to do their own thing. Tommy looked at Kimberly before bringing up his wrist and pressed his fingers into the sides of his communicator. In a flash of light, Tommy teleported to the park, looking around to be sure they weren't caught before the two strolled along, heading toward the theater.

Tommy reached up a hand, yawning once more. Teleporting had never taken so much out of him before. But now… _You're just tired from piloting your zord,_ he reassured himself. _Everything's fine._ Kimberly giggled and looped her arm through this.

She poked Tommy on the cheek. "Don't tell me you're falling asleep already. I know you hate chick flicks but you can at least pretend to stay awake for this one." She pressed herself against his side, stuck out her lower lip in a pout that always made her get her way. Tommy felt his resolve breaking quickly, falling into droplets of love for the young woman beside him. "For me."

"Everything I do is for you," Tommy replied. He smiled when Kimberly 'awwd' and placed a kiss on his cheek. Tommy looped his arm around Kimberly's shoulders and hugged her to his side.

He wished it was possible to hold her tighter.

* * *

 **A/N:** First chapter is done! I really liked the idea of the rangers doing zord training within the comics and thought it'd be fun if it were here as well!

Also, I added to the summary that this is an AU—which should be obvious—but it's an AU for a few reasons. In this one, Jason, Zack, and Trini never their powers to Rocky, Adam, and Aisha and the rangers are still able to use their MMPR powers despite having their ninjetti powers as well and a few other changes that will make more sense as the story goes on.

Let me know what you think.

 **~Av**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Drakkon's hair fell in front of his face, head bent forward. His arms held fast behind him with powerful restraints. Powerful enough so that any of the powers and abilities he could exhibit were nullified. The Promethea Complex were smart. Smarter than he'd give them credit for if he were being honest. The moment they'd gotten him, they knew of the power he exuded and went through the necessary steps to ensure he was as powerless as a mewling kitten.

Yes, they fed him. Yes, they made sure to do everything they could to keep him alive. As alive as he could be. He was a clone. In the back of his mind he always knew it to be true. He remembered the time he'd spent blinding trying to kill the man who he was an exact doppelganger of. Wanted nothing more than to watch the life fade from his eyes. He should've followed what he'd been told. Should've killed him when he had the chance. No, instead he allowed himself to be brainwashed by the original and that he shouldn't have existed.

He shouldn't have existed.

"You don't belong here, but that's alright, we'll send you where you an be of some help."

Bullshit.

They wanted to get rid fo him, didn't want the blood staining their hands. Didn't want to be the cause of a loss of life. The best heroes they had to protect a city and they felt themselves to be so much better than their so-called villains that they couldn't kill if they needed to.

 _They should've killed me when they had the chance,_ Drakkon thought. The same thought that continued to fester the stronger he became. He was still able to morph and exhibited the power whenever he needed. Oh, sure, he was a hero to those in his city, in colonial times. He had everyone fawning all over him because of the crime he managed to stop. The little crimes that were nothing more than someone 'borrowing' something that they didn't get permission for. Someone robbing someone else. It didn't like long for the trail to go back to them. And yet, Drakkon continued to do his duty with a smile.

A smile that held a festering darkness that continued to grow inside. He was the leader of his own ranger team until they saw him unfit to be a leader. Unfit to be a ranger. He was getting too rough, too aggressive, too scary. The last one had been told to him by the woman he loved. The way she looked at him while in battle—despite their helmet visors being so tinted, he _always_ knew when she was looking at him—drew him deeper and deeper into the darkness as the days passed. Soon, he could bare it no longer. Couldn't bare the way the entire team was looking at him.

He silenced those looks easily. Snuck up behind them when they were vulnerable, struck them down quicker than they could scream. He watched the light leave their eyes with no emotion. Didn't see the look of utter betrayal that passed over his lover's face. Didn't hear her struggle to say his name as he shoved his sword through her back, then dealt the finishing blow by strangling her. Kept himself from seeing it, didn't want anything that'd distract him from doing what needed to be done. And, with each of them, he made sure to bury them far away from the town. Far enough away that no one would notice their disappearance after time. He could easily explain it away. They went to another city that needed the protection while he stayed in what would soon become Angel Grove.

Drakkon remembered how he was caught. He remembered it with a sick sense of fondness. Before his team's death, before he finished them off, they showed how they were one step ahead of him. He hadn't expected them to use a Power Coin that would zap him with an energy blast to break his own Power Coin. He'd lost his powers. Briefly. He didn't know it until later that it was only temporary. Fell into a small depression once he had been defeated. Nevertheless, it shocked him. Made him insecure without having what made him special. Then angry. A perverse anger. He couldn't let them get away stripping him like that.

So he worked hard to become strong on his own merit. So that when his powers came back, it made him even stronger than he had been before. Not to mention, gave him more abilities that his past—or future if he were to be more pragmatic—self was able to do. He could move through time. Move through dimensions. One swipe of Saba through the air in front of him and he was able to rip open a portal that'd take him where he needed to go.

It had been a mistake when he thoughts immediately took him to exact his revenge on those that sent him there. He hadn't anticipated what the new world would look like. Hadn't expected to be immediately woken up and taken in by what he later found to be the government. It took him years to understand their strange words and ways of speaking. Understanding that he was the 'abomination' they spoke of. It took him years to understand they were able to hold him hostage due to the energy restraints they'd clamped around him.

How they knew of his powers and abilities, he wasn't sure. They didn't speak of that. They didn't speak to him at all, simply waited for him to be asleep before starting their taunting gestures. They had to have experimented on him—large chunks of memory that'd come in and out of him would prove it true. He'd remember times where he was carefully taken from his cell, dragged somewhere, then time would disappear and he'd be back in his cell, muscles aching as if clenched for hours on end.

One person visited him endlessly. And Drakkon enjoyed taunting and torturing her. Enjoyed telling her the perverted details of how he killed his team, slaughtered those that got in his way, and would enjoy continuing to do so. She'd simply stand back and listen, watching him with dark brown eyes that blazed with fury and fear. She wouldn't cry out or make a sound when he went into excruciating detail, but he knew how much it haunted her and would haunt her for ages to come.

She never did more than stand and watch him. Never asked him questions. He did all the talking. It was everyone else who was the problem. They poked and prodded him when they were brave enough to do so. Saw him as some sort of a side show attraction. Watched him like a zoo animal. How moronic. How stupid of them to think that they were the ones that were holding the power in their hands. How incredibly imprudent for them to feel they had the upper hand. There were those that fell for lesser crimes, the moment he was able to get out would be the day they'd rue messing with him.

The day came sooner than those within the Promethea Complex could have even come close to anticipating. It was all too easy, really. Humans were creatures of habit. Drakkon wasn't a human. He was a God. And as God, he needed to show others why they needed to follow him and what would happen if they didn't.

Drakkon waited until it was feeding time. His arms were still restrained, but his legs had slowly been unshackled a the days went on. _Foolish,_ he thought. They thought he wouldn't be a threat for any of them to come close. And yet, they still came in to bring him food for the day. Drakkon waited for them to get closer. Closer. Closer.

They dropped the foot by his feet and turned to leave. Drakkon moved then, he lifted his feet and wrapped them around one of the guard's necks. It was a serendipitous moment, really. They came into his cell and left it the same way, in a straight line. Drakkon was able to get his ankles around the neck of one of the guards, and his thighs around the neck of the other. With a twist of his feet, the neck of the guard in front of him snapped. His body fell limp, dead within seconds. The second guard took a few seconds longer, the pressure put against his neck made his eyes bulge out. He gasped for air, gurgled, bringing his hand up to his neck, working to try and pry Drakkon's legs from him.

But Drakkon's thighs were as thick as rocks. His windpipe was crushed so quickly, that he didn't get the chance to bring in another breath before he was dead. He fell limp as well. Drakkon tossed the bodies away. An alarm started to go off. Just as he thought. He should've known, they had to be monitoring his heartrate and the heartrate for anyone who was in his cell. He hadn't expected that.

What he also hadn't expected was for Saba to appear through the cracked open door of his cell. Didn't expect him to hover in front of him with his glowing eyes. Drakkon only had his green ranger powers, and while he had never become the white ranger in the colonial times, he recognized Saba. Something within him knew it was Saba as soon as he appeared in front of him.

So much so that Drakkon only slightly surprised himself when he hissed, "Saba," the second the sword appeared in front of him.

Despite the mouth of the sword being the only thing that'd move, Drakkon could feel a great sense of shame and disappointment resonating from Saba. "We control only what we can, as we must," Saba said. His words dripped with disappointment as well as his presence did. Drakkon glared back at him. "But we also must recognize when things are out of our hands and accept that we cannot control everything."

Drakkon's lips pulled back in a snarl, his teeth formed almost a fanged smile. He didn't respond. Didn't have to. Saba continued speaking in his low, soothing, mentorlike tone that still seemed familiar with Drakkon.

"I have seen firsthand what you are capable of," Saba continued. "The others have not lived with your actions the way I have. I cannot stand idly by while you sit in this cell, biding your time."

With that, Saba's eyes flashed red. Drakkon, seeing this, braced himself. The second Saba unleasehd an eyebrow, Drakkon shot himself ot the side. His restraints pulled against him, almost yanked his arms out of his sockets. Still, he dodged the attack. The beam was supposed to hit Drakkon's head, take him out immediately. But the second he moved, the energy beam hit a different target. The exact target Drakkon had hoped it'd take out. His movement proved to be more than helpful. The energy beam hit the cables that held him, immediately severed him.

The second the power was lost to the cables, Drakkon felt his power coming back to him. He started to fall forward, then cried out in pain. Saba had continued to shoot energy beams after the first one, just to make sure. This one hit Drakkon right under the eye.

"Agh!" Drakkon turned his head away. Blood seeped down his cheek, dripped off his chin and hit the floor. Each bead of blood would hit the ground at the same time the alarm around the complex would pulse. However, once his hands were free, Drakkon lunged at Saba, ignoring the stinging pain of the beams colliding with hiss arms and face. Drakkon grabbed Saba around the neck, immediately ceasing the energy blasts. Drakkon's hand shook rapidly as he tightened his grasp around Saba. "It's not I who will be ending!" He hissed.

With that, Drakkon moved his other hand to the body of Saba's sword. The blade slice across his palm as Drakkon pulled.

 _Snap!_

With little effort, Saba's head snapped off his body. Drakkon dropped both halves of Saba. They collided with a dull 'thunk'. Saba's head bounced away, forgotten as Drakkon grabbed the blade from the floor. With a quick flick of his wrist, Drakkon sliced the air in front of him, ripping a portal through the air. He went to step through, then stopped. Turned back to the head that lay discarded on the floor beside him. Drakkon picked it up, studied the head, ran his thumb over the grooves that made up Saba's face and fangs. His mouth opened in a silent scream.

Drakkon clenched his hand around Saba's head, turned, and stepped through the portal.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry it took so long. I have plenty coming up with this that I'm excited for you all to see. I hope yo update again soon.

 **~Av**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

The Command Center was quiet. Soft beeping and humming emitted from the machines that filled the large room. Though the rangers called the main area of operation the Command Center, there was an entire base of operations that ran underground of the desert just beyond Angel Grove. Those that lived on the outskirts of the city, if they looked closely on a bright, clear day, maybe they could see the Command Center.

Maybe.

There were those that swore they saw the monument looming in the distance. There were others that said it was a myth. A sort of Area 51 for all the experiments and space travel from Angel Grove. The residents knew of NASADA, many of the mothers and fathers worked there as well as those traveling in from Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and other nearby cities. It made sense if there was a secret base nearby for their work to be done. For their failed experiments to have a home.

Every now and then, there was an increase of government presence within the city, thus making the rumors of what was truly out there in the desert to rapidly increase. As well as conspiracy theories of why power rangers were suddenly protecting the city, why monsters were appearing out of nowhere, and why they hadn't had anything said about it other than new evacuation processes.

If anyone were to dig deeper about the power rangers and their appearances, the residents of Angel Grove would know it all stemmed back to the monument they thought they saw in the desert. Within said monument—the Command Center—was a world no one outside of the power rangers would ever begin to see.

Created millennia ago as an outpost for Zordon and Alpha to live. Filled with highly technical computers that were capable of teleportation, scanning, contacting other dimensions, and identifying names of the new monsters seconds after they'd been created. That day, the Command Center was quieter than it'd ever been; its blackened walls dotted with lights that resembled the night sky.

On one side of the room, a low and steady beep emanated, covering up the softer beeping sounds. Alpha 5, the animatronic robot that overlooked the day to day activities of the Command Center abruptly came to life. A red light swam across the linear face plate of his chrome done and he stretched his arms to the sides.

"Ah! Nothing like a forty-eight-hour nap to get your batteries charged," Alpha said. He reached behind himself, ripping a few plugs out of his back, and stepped away from the wall. The wires retracted themselves into the wall and he took a few shaky steps away before doing a few aerobic stretches. "Now, what was it that Jane Fonda did?"

Alpha stretched a few more minutes before walking across the floor of the Command Center. He went to the main control panel and pushed a few buttons, illuminating the otherwise dark area. The lights along the Power Tube illuminated, showing the face that floated inside. The eyes on the face blinked open and a fond smile was cast upon the robot.

"Zordon!" Alpha cried. His footsteps made tiny clunking sounds as he moved across the floor towards his oldest friend. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Alpha," Zordon replied. He smiled down at Alpha. Two of the oldest relics of Eedenoi and Eltar having been together for millenia continuing to work together to protect a city and the soldiers that they found to be as much of family as they became friends. "You appear to be in a good mood."

Alpha chuckled and moved aside, pressing more and more buttons, turning on the different machines in the Command Center and waking up the protective base for the day. One by one a deafening hum filled the room of multiple computer fans turning on before they considerably lowered to a respectful level that was typically ignored by the rangers and those within it.

"Alpha, perform a scan around Angel Grove," Zordon commanded.

"Right away, Zordon," Alpha agreed. He placed his hand to his forehead and moved it away in a quick salute. Then, Alpha turned to do as he was told. Once the scanner was set up, he turned to the Viewing Globe, watching as it scanned over Angel Grove. "Isn't it beautiful, Zordon?"

Zordon chuckled to himself, watching his friend gave over Angel Grove, the city they worked hard to protect day in and day out. For a few long moments, the two watched the scan over Angel Grove. Then, all at once, everything changed.

A dark shadow slid over the face of the Viewing Globe. Alpha frowned and pressed a button on the Command Center, a restart button. But when the image reappeared on screen, it was the same as it had been before. A dark shadow. The shadow swirled around and around, following the darkness that slowly started to cover the sky over Angel Grove.

Lightning shot from the darkened clouds, striking the ground within seconds. The image on the Viewing Globe changed to downtown Angel Grove. Lightning struck a sidewalk, knocking a nearby pedestrian off his feet. Another one struck a light pole, electrocuting the man that leaned against it. One by one, more and more lightning strikes hit the ground.

"My sensors are indicating a disturbance," Zordon said.

"Is it from Rita and Zedd?" Alpha asked, quickly jumping into action, signaling the rangers' communicators.

"There has been no activity from the moon while we've been in deep sleep. I can't sense Rita or Zedd are behind whatever is coming."

"It's not a monster?"

"This is much stronger than any monster Rita and Zedd could come up with."

Alpha started to respond, but a deafening boom filled the air. Alpha ducked out of the way as the sounds of explosion rocked the Command Center back and forth. Sparks flew from the Viewing Globe, the walls of the Command Center growing dark. The lights flickered, its own lightning storm within the Command Center.

The ground rocked, immediately threatening the integrity of the Command Center. Earthquakes were dangerous for the Command Center. With the majority of the Command Center stationed underground, it left the parts remaining above vulnerable. As the earthquake continued, cracks and fissures formed among the walls of the Command Center. Sparks continued to fly, control panels damaged, the lights blinking out, the ground rumbled, the sound growing to that of a freight train heading straight for them.

"Ay yi yi yi yi," Alpha cried. He did his best to hold still amongst the shaking, quaking ground. Alarms went off all over the Command Center, frantically warning them of the incoming danger. "Zordon, what's going on?"

"There's a disturbance in the timeline," Zordon replied. "Something has escaped and it's on its way to Angel Grove."

"Do you know what it is?" Alpha frantically moved towards Zordon's side, working hard to stay up right. He cried out when a particularly hard quake knocked him over. His robotic hands scrambled against the ground, working to keep himself upright. "Zordon!"

"My sensors can't indicate the identity of what is coming," Zordon explained. "But it is of a powerful force, much more formidable than what the rangers have ever faced before."

"Oh…" Alpha shook his head. "I hope the rangers are ready for this."

Zoron's responding words were cryptic. Alpha had never heard him sound so defeated, so worried, so scared. "The rangers may not be enough to stop this."

"Ay yi yi..."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, things certainly are moving quickly. Everything truly does start with the next chapter. And for those wondering where Avalon and Bailey may be and where they'll be within this story, if they're in it. You'll know soon.

I apologize that I haven't responded to any reviews lately, I haven't had much time online. But as a catch all, thank you for reading and reviewing so far! I'm glad you're all enjoying it. I'm also glad you like my idea of taking the Tommy from colonial times to be Drakkon, as soon as I knew I wanted to try Shattered Grid, I knew I wanted to use him.

As for Jason and Lauren getting together, most likely not. I haven't completely decided yet, though.

 **~Av**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four  
**

* * *

"I promise I'll be back in enough time to get the dishes done, mom, I promise," Kimberly called, grabbing her house keys from the hooks by the front door. She grabbed her purse with her other hand, throwing it over her shoulder. "Have a good day!" She slipped out the door before her mother could stop her, the skirt of her dress swishing around her legs.

Kimberly turned and bit her lower lip as she grinned at Tommy, who waited for her in the driver's seat of his white pickup truck. Tommy waved back to her, prompting Kimberly to skip her way down the steps and to the driver's seat. She threw her arms around Tommy's neck and gave him a big kiss.

"Thanks for doing this," She said once she pulled back. "After all that studying we've been putting in, I really needed a day to think about _anything_ but school."

"Well, if it makes you think about me, I'm glad to do it," Tommy replied. He grinned, receiving another kiss from Kimberly. He tilted his head towards the passenger seat and Kimberly hurried around to get in. "Besides, it's been a long time since we've been able to have a picnic in the park, it's as much for you as it is for me."

"Oh, okay." Kimberly rolled her eyes, buckling herself up. "So, you wanted to do something for _yourself_ but wanted to suck up to me, too? Is that it?"

Tommy shrugged, though his smile remained. Kimberly reached out and pushed him hard on the shoulder. Tommy, though having a good control of the car, pulled sharply on the steering wheel in response to the hit. Kimberly squealed, throwing one hand against the window, the other flying to press against the dashboard. It took a few minutes for her to realize Tommy was laughing, and especially laughing _at_ her.

Kimberly scowled and thrust her hand out to shove him again, then thought better of it, punching him hard on the thigh.

Tommy brought up his leg, releasing his foot from the gas. "Hey, do you _want_ us to get into an accident?"

"If we do, it'll be your fault, not mine," Kimberly declared. Stubbornly, she folded her arms. "But, I think I've had a good life so far. Mom and Dad aren't fighting as much, Mom's dating life has been going well, Dad's new business is awesome, and I've got some of the best friends anyone could ask for."

Tommy gave her a funny look. "What about your boyfriend?"

"My boyfriend?"

"Yeah; tall, dark, and handsome. Who looks as amazing in green as he does in white. Has an amazing work ethic within martial arts, volunteering, school…"

Kimberly burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that tears came from her eyes. Tommy pulled up to a red light and stared straight ahead, listening as Kimberly continued to laugh and laugh. Finally, she calmed down long enough to wipe away her tears. She leaned forward and pulled down the rearview mirror to look at her reflection.

"Oh, my mascara is smudging," she whined, quickly bringing her fingers over her eyelashes. Then she looked at Tommy and said, "Why do you have to be so funny?"

"I don't think it's _that_ funny," Tommy grumbled. The light changed and Tommy continued toward the park.

"Oh, please. You know you're not so good at school."

"It's not that I'm not _good_ Kim, I get good grades—"

"—Yeah. You're just terrible when it comes to studying, remembering your homework, having a clean locker, being organized—"

"Well, when you pile it all up like that, it just makes it hard to even defend myself." Tommy shook his head and looked at Kimberly, who continued to giggle quietly. "You know, you're lucky I love you or else I would take a lot of that personally."

Kimberly continued to giggle. She leaned over and gave Tommy a noisy kiss on the cheek. "I love you, too. I promise." She grasped his hand, making Tommy finally smile. "There's that smile I was looking for."

Tommy laughed. "Okay, okay, what did you want to do today?" He asked. "I mean, other than hanging out at the park with the lovely picnic I packed you? I don't think we can spend the entire day eating."

"Why not? I think the world cultures festival is still going on. The last weekend, I think. If we get bored of whatever you made, there's still plenty we can go out and eat and see." Kimberly tightened her grasp around his hand. "Not to say we're going to be bored with your food, but I have more than enough money to get some souvenirs and stuff."

"Oh, so you want to go shopping."

"When do I _not_ want to go shopping?"

"Very true."

Tommy drove all the way to the park and parked the car. He climbed out of the backseat and grasped the picnic basket he had stored there while Kimberly grabbed the basket. She took the blanket and folded it over her arm before the two walked into the park. As they went, the two pointed out different cultural booths they wanted to try out. Finally, the two found an empty spot along the grass and spread out their blanket.

Kimberly sat back, watching quietly as Tommy painstakingly pulled out everything he'd packed along within the picnic basket and set it up in a beautiful array, along with a bouquet of flowers he handed over to Kimberly. This made the pink ranger raise an eyebrow and gently shake the flowers back at him. "You know, it's things like this that make the others make fun of us all the time."

"Ah, they're just jealous," Tommy said with a wave of his hand.

"I know that," Kimberly agreed. "But even I think that's a bit much."

"Okay." Tommy leaned back against the blanket, shrugging nonchalantly. "Then I'll just take back the flowers—"

Kimberly held them out of reach, hugged them against her chest. "Over my dead body," she declared. "These flowers are lovely, I'm not letting you get a hand on them!" She brought them to her nose and sniffed loudly. "Thank you, Tommy. I really mean it."

"Your mom been getting on you're a lot lately?"

"Yeah. Now that graduation and college are coming up, it's really starting to sink in for her that I'm leaving, and she really wants me to have a back-up with a degree in case my gymnastics doesn't work out."

Tommy gave her a look, already starting in on the food he'd brought with them. "But she encourages you with gymnastics all the time. She's there for every meet…"

"Yeah, she's there. She drove me to every practice, woke up early, made me snacks, everything but…" Kimberly picked at the threat of the blanket. "I'm not stupid, Tommy. I know there's a chance I won't make it if I haven't already. I'm a lot older than some of the other gymnast and I have to work harder, longer. I'm in pain a lot more and it's not just because of the ranger stuff. Sometimes I get to school after practice and just want to keel over. She wants what's best for me but sometimes…"

"Sometimes you're not sure," Tommy said. "Kim that's okay. I know how hard things can get. My parents know martial art is my life and that I want nothing more than to have that be a part of my life. But I know, realistically, they know it's not something that will keep me going. But we're young, Kim, there's so much more stuff we can and want to do. I mean, I want to race cars, I want to get a degree, I want…a lot of stuff."

"So, how do you deal with it?" Kimberly asked.

"By taking each step carefully," Tommy replied. "By knowing I have people there to help me out." He smiled. "By having you."

"Aww." Kimberly leaned forward, giving Tommy the hint. Tommy took it and kissed her slowly, gently. Enough to show her how much he truly felt for her, how they would always be together. And Kimberly felt it, so much more than she'd always felt it. Tommy was there for her, he as her partner, and he'd always be there for her.

When the earthquake started, Kimberly wasn't sure if it was her. If she had the cutesy, cliché feeling that the Earth was moving for her simply because of how much love she felt for her boyfriend, the leader of their team. But the longer she kissed Tommy, the harder she held onto him, the harder the ground shook. It didn't take long—the surprised screams of those around her was what drew her away from one of the best kisses of her life.

Kimberly and Tommy looked around, finding those within their booths struggling to hold it together, while others milling around the park struggled to stay on their feet. A large cracking sound split through the air. Without looking to each other, Kimberly and Tommy reacted at the same time. They rolled away from each other, Kimberly giving Tommy a particularly hard kick in the chest as she moved. The second they were apart, a large tree branch smashed to the ground where they'd just been, cracking the plates of food as they went.

Kimberly got to her feet, nearly falling over once more. The ground shook so hard, she half expected to feel her body tingle so much that it felt like she was being electrocuted. Expected to be teleported to the Command Center like the very first time they became power rangers. But something about that earthquake was different, she knew it. Could feel it in her bones.

Hers and Tommy's communicators started to go off. Stopping after the second beep. Tommy brought his communicator to his mouth. "Alpha?" He asked. "Zordon?" Only static was the response.

Kimberly wind milled her arms. Worked to find her footing. Even her gymnastics wasn't keeping her as balanced as she should've been. It wasn't an ordinary earthquake. Something was happening. "What's going on?" She called.

Tommy shook his head in response. "I don't know, but we have to get everyone to safety!"

"Right!"

Tommy and Kimberly took off running, shouting to those around them to get to safety as quickly as they could. To get away from nearby trees, to get to an open and cleared area as soon as possible. They were so busy helping others that they didn't notice their morphers glowing in their respective colors.

* * *

Jason ducked, bending back as far as he could when Trini's fist and forward momentum pulled her around. He wrapped an arm around her waist and flipped her onto her back on the mats below her. A smirk started to appear on his face—it quickly shifted to an expression of surprise when she threw her body weight back, pulling Jason atop of her.

Trini, at the last second, twisted to the side, wiggling herself from Jason's grasp. She turned onto her back and lifted her feet, pressing them against Jason's chest, pushing him over her.

"Whoa!"

Jason flipped through the air. He landed on his feet and turned back to Trini, who kip-upped to her own. The two shuffled around, keeping their eyes on each other. A smile pulled at Trini's lips. "That was a nice try," she said. "You almost had me that time."

"Almost?" Jason grinned. "I think you know I was about to kick your butt."

"Then why didn't you?"

"I wanted to go easy on you."

Trini's eyebrows twitched upwards. She looked amused. "I _dare you_ to go easy on me." And then the two were back into their sparring, fists and feet flying. A small crowd, formed complete with Ernie watching from the juice bar, wiping down his blender. The two continued to block and parry.

Finally, they started to wind down. And after a spectacular show of flipping each other to the ground, Trini caught Jason in a situation he couldn't work his way out of. One direction, he'd get a fist directly to his nose, the other, he'd have it straight to his gut. And from the way he leaned back, one knee bent to the floor, the other slowly moving to the same position, he wouldn't be able to get out without losing.

He looked up at Trini, who grinned back at him, and sighed in defeat. Trini's smile widened. She stepped back, reaching out her hand to grab Jason's. She hauled him to his feet and the two pressed their hands to their sides, bowing to each other.

"Well?" Trini asked, once the crowd around them dispersed.

Jason grabbed his towel, running it over his face. "Well, what?" He asked, hiding his smile.

"Well, what did you think?" Trini replied. "And you have to be honest with me." She lifted a finger and waved it in her face. "You promised."

"In that case…" Jason sat on the bench, looking pensive. He continued to blot at his face with the towel. "I thought you sucked." Jason laughed, shielding himself when Trini went to punch him hard on the arm. "Relax, Trini, you were great. I think my students would love to see what you can teach them."

"Thank you." Trini sat next to him. She flicked her long hair from her face. "Now, are you going to tell them that you got beat by a girl before or _after_ the class?"

"After," Jason decided. "If I told them before, it'd ruin any credibility I had with them." Trini punched him again and Jason's eyes widened. "That's a complement, Tree. I meant they'd want to have _you_ as a teacher more than they'd want me."

"Oh, I could never take your students away." Trini waved her hand. "They love you too much. Everyone does." She leaned over to address Ernie. "Isn't that right, Ernie?"

"Yeah, it's one of the bigger draws I have for the place," Ernie said. "These kids love you. And I know they'd be glad to have Trini, here, helping them out as well. You'd all win."

Trini beamed as Jason turned to her.

"I never said I wasn't going to let you help me," he pointed out.

"Yeah, you just needed me to prove it to you, first." Trini shoved his arm with her shoulder. It was a gentle hit, but the ensuing earthquake knocked Jason off the bench and to the floor. Trini gasped, pressing her hands tightly to the bench, keeping herself up right. "What's going on?"

"It's an earthquake!" Ernie cried. He raised his voice, shouting over the commotion of the juice bar. "Get to safety everyone! Come on, let's go!"

Jason and Trini got to their feet, exchanged a glance, and hurried to the hallway that led to the locker rooms. They looked around, making sure they were alone, before bringing up their communicators to their mouths, ready to take on whatever it was that was sent down for them to fight.

"Zordon, can you read me?" Jason called. Static crackled in response. He looked to Trini, who leaned closer, trying to hear anything over the static. "Zordon, I repeat, can you read me?" Still nothing. Trini leaned back, Jason looked her in the eye. "Nothing."

"We should get over there," Trini said.

She and Jason nodded and pressed their fingers into the sides of their communicators. The sound of the static continued to increase. Once. Twice. Three times. They kept trying but found it wasn't working. Trini shook her head, started to say something, but the blinding light of their morphers glowing in their respective colors cut her off.

The Youth Center was rocked with another blast, the lights shutting off, the only light source coming from their morphers.

* * *

"And what is this going to do to help our zords?" Zack asked, passing over a wrench for Billy to take.

Billy let out a patient sigh. A grin came to his face. It was fun to see Zack struggle to understand what was going on. He was smart, but to have something that Billy could teach someone else was something he wasn't going to pass up. Trini understood nearly everything he said, which was great when he was working to figure out something that was stumping him. Kimberly was alright; she was starting to spend so much more time in the Command Center that she was picking up a lot of things. Not that Billy disliked her enthusiasm, but he could do without a smack to the back of the head when she got too excited with her flailing arms when she finally understood something.

Jason and Tommy were an interesting pair. Tommy wasn't so organized when it came to school and he was only a little bit better when it came to Billy's work on the zords and their weapons. Jason, on the other hand, was one who wanted nothing more than to go out with his zord, believing in the bonding that went between the ranger and the dinosaur represented in their zord.

Zack spent the least amount of time in the Command Center when he wasn't working with his Power Axe. To have him willingly option to help Billy out in his lab was a rare treat but Billy did need the help. Things around his garage lab had been so quiet lately. Even Zack's dancing around when he wasn't handing over tools was an improvement to the stilted silence.

"This device is going to make it easier for me to determine what's wrong with the zords whenever we take on damage," Billy explained. Zack lifted a skeptical eyebrow to the parts that sat on the work table. "Once I put it all together, I mean."

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything…" Zack joked.

Billy rolled his eyes. "It doesn't look like much now, but it'll be something."

"How do you put it all together?" Zack picked up a wad of wires and tilted it back and forth in his hand. He held it up to eye level, moved it away, then brought it back once more. "It looks like a clump of hair Kim pulls out of her brush every morning."

Billy chuckled. "It looks like ordinary wire, but it's actually some alien technology that Zordon and Alpha said I could use. You see, these wires hold intricate pieces of nano-technology that will not only make it so that it gives me a view of the inner machinations of our zords to assess damage and send it back to us in real time as opposed to what we have now where I'm simply only able to get an idea of what the damage is."

"Oh." Zack nodded. He spun his morpher, which sat on the work table next to Billy's, around in a circle. "Got it."

"Are you sure?" Billy's smile was unrivaled.

"No," Zack said honestly. "But I'm sure if you tell it to me again I'll get it this time."

Billy threw his head back and laughed. He picked up the wrench and gestured toward the pile of metal that sat together on the corner of the work table. "Just make sure I don't bend the metal pieces too hard. There's more than enough room for error on this one."

"Aye aye, el Braino."

Another laugh escaped Billy's lips. That time, however, it was cut off by a startled cry as Billy's feet flew out from beneath him. The earthquake was so sudden and strong that Billy didn't have the chance to keep himself from falling over. Zack stumbled and pressed his back against the wall of the garage. Billy pushed himself to his knees, steadying himself with a tight grip on the side of his work table.

"Come on!" He shouted. It wasn't safe to stay in the garage. Not when there were so many dangerous chemicals and instruments around that would cause massive damage.

Zack immediately moved to Billy's side and grabbed his arm, hauling him to his feet. "What about your dad?" He asked.

"He's at work! We can't stay in here!" Billy reached out his hand and slammed it on a button to the wall. The door to the garage slowly started to open, moving up and then dropped back down. Finally, the door opened, and Billy and Zack barreled out of the garage.

Zack spread his legs wide, keeping himself up as the ground around them shook. Billy brought up his communicator, frantically calling into it, wondering what was going on. He received no response then switched frequencies to the other rangers. Even with Zack standing next to him, the call didn't go through.

A loud, droning scream filled the air. Billy tilted his head back and followed the source of the noise. A gasp escaped his lips when he spotted a plane drawing closer and closer. The plane tilted back and forth, working to keep itself steady.

Billy swallowed hard, watching as the plane dangerously tilted back and forth, trying to steady itself as it came in for a landing. Having created the Rad Bug, Billy knew enough about aerodynamics and flight patterns to know it wasn't right. Something with the plane was wrong, probably an electromagnetic field that was growing around the plane due to the earthquake. Intuitively, Billy knew it wasn't a normal earthquake.

It was too similar to being pulled to the Command Center the first time. This time, however, a dark weight settled in his stomach. Something was coming. Something big. And something more dangerous than they've ever come across before.

Behind them, the garage was suddenly illuminated in a bright blight. Zack and Billy turned around, staring in surprise as their morphers glowed their respective colors, bathing everything in the room in the merging light. Zack brought up a hand to shield his eyes.

"What's going on?" Zack asked.

"I don't know," Billy replied. His eyes shifted back and forth, watching as ever. "But whatever it is, it can't be good."

* * *

Tommy and Kimberly ran around the park, barking at the festival goers to get to safety as quickly as possible. Most listened to them. Others ignored them, running as fast as they could in any direction. Some ran around, shouting for their family and friends. But a majority of them followed everything the rangers told them.

"We just need to check the other side of the park, then I think that's everyone," Tommy said as they ran.

Kimberly nodded, her ponytail bobbing beside her as she kept up with her boyfriend. "The sooner we get everyone to safety, the better." She ran directly toward the bench in front of her, stepped up on the seat, and flipped over it, landing gracefully and continued running as if she hadn't lost her stride.

"Show off," Tommy muttered.

Kimberly laughed and kept running.

They followed the path through the garden area, screeching to a stop when a portal started to open in front of them. Immediately, the two fell into fighting stances, lowering themselves into a crouched stance, holding their hands up in front of them. The portal opened wider and wider, a lone figure calmly and casually strolling through it.

His long, flowing hair reached his mid-back, whipping around in the wind that the portal created. He tightened his grasp around what was in his hand, looking down at it. The portal closed, snapping shut. The earthquakes stopped all at the same time.

The man, Lord Drakkon, looked at the head in his hand then at Tommy and Kimberly. His eyebrows twitched upwards, his eyes roving over Tommy. He tilted his head to the side, studying them closely. Kimberly stepped forward, the movement making Lord Drakkon snort quietly.

The stared at Lord Drakkon; their eyes taking in the streaks of white at his widow's peak, at the scars on his cheeks, at the scars that lined his chest that heaved in the sunlight as he stood nonchalantly in front of them. Tommy and Kimberly exchanged a glance, still sitting in their fighting stances.

Their muscles primed, ready to launch themselves at him if he moved first.

"Here, this might be of some use to you." Lord Drakkon threw Saba's head to the ground. Tommy and Kimberly watched it bounced against the dirt before rolling to their feet. Kimberly gasped, throwing her hands up to cover her mouth. "I see he looks familiar."

Tommy put out an arm, standing in front of Kimberly. Protected her. "Who are you?" He demanded.

Lord Drakkon spread his arms wide, his lips spreading at the same time. The scars that lined his cheeks stretched around his evil smile. "Let's just say I'm a friend."

* * *

 **A/N:** This was fun. They've already met Drakkon. What could happen next? I hope you guys enjoyed it!

 **~Av**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

"Trini? Tree, are you okay?"

Trini groaned quietly, tensed every muscle in her body to stretch. Pain shot through her muscles. Not that she was in any abject pain, but from the adrenaline that shot through her body, working to keep herself upright amongst the rapid shaking of the ground. Once making sure everyone was safe and away from anything that could fall on them, Trini pressed her back into the nearest doorframe, eyes shifting to the ceiling to make sure nothing was coming her way.

The shaking continued and while the lights went out, the light from her morpher made it so that she could still see. Especially once the lights in the Youth Center went out. In the darkness, she could hear panicked screaming of those who couldn't make it far enough from their placement in the building before it started to collapse. Now, her morpher cast an eerie yellow glow around the room.

The room that had previously been filled with patrons sitting at the café portion, drinking their smoothies, and those in the weight lifting portion. She couldn't see too far in front of her, the morpher not stretching so far.

But as she leaned against the doorframe, her eyes scanned the darkened Youth Center. Searching for the red light she'd seen before. Every few seconds, her hopes would get up when the glow cast by the Exit sign caught her attention. Her heart hammered in her chest, legs felt wobbly. It wasn't Jason. Where was he? She could hear him just fine.

"Trini!"

"Jase," Trini replied. She swallowed hard, felt her tongue dry in her mouth. She coughed, swallowed hard. Collected spit into her mouth. "Jason!" She called again. "Where are you?"

"I'm over here!" His voice sounded close, but not close enough. Like there was a wall between them. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded, then immediately regretted the decision to do so. Her head swam, felt full and pounded along with her heartbeat. Had she really used so much energy when trying to keep herself upright? Had she really been so scared that her adrenaline rushed sooner than she'd expected? "Are you?"

"I'm okay."

Trini let out a sigh of relief. Shakily, she removed herself from the wall and moved closer to the sound of Jason's voice. Her morpher continued to glow, casting a light that bobbed with each sway of her hips. Trini paused in her footsteps, bringing her hands down to cover her morpher. Not to hide it, but to determine what was causing it to glow. She'd never seen it illuminate like that before, only having seen it crackle a yellow electricity when handing over her power coin to stop Rita and Goldar from attacking Angel Grove.

But the steady glow was different. Trini unbuckled her morpher from her belt and held it up in her hand, casting its glow along the Youth Center. She gasped in surprise, seeing the destruction of their local hangout. Dust filled the air, particles still falling from the ceiling. From large holes in the ceiling where the plaster had broken apart.

From deep within the ceiling, the support beams that held up the ceiling stretched down to the floor. Large sheets of concrete, drywall, and plaster lay strewn across the ground. It was then that Trini was able to see a faint glow from around the juice bar. A faint red glow.

Trini moved closer, continuing to shine her morpher back and forth, looking for a familiar face. Looking for any victims that she may have passed. The screaming seemed to come from the other side of the fallen dry wall. "Jase?"

"Trini." His voice sounded closer. "Over here."

Trini continued moving forward until she reached the side of the juice bar. A large sheet of dry wall and concrete kept her from seeing Jason completely, but she could feel he was close. That he was there and still alive. "Jase."

"Trini." Yes, he was right there're. "Let me just say, I'm never going to complain about earthquakes in Angel Grove ever again. This is the worst one we've ever been through." The wall shifted slightly, Trini could hear Jason's grunt. He was trying to move the wall. "But it doesn't seem like we've had the added abilities this time around."

Trini knelt down by the juice bar, ran her hands along the seams, trying to find a way to wedge her fingers into the gaps to save her friend. "Yeah, I don't think I've ever felt so tired in my life. Including when we stayed up all night studying for that test."

Jason chuckled. "That same test we ended up having to convince Ms. Appleby to let us take later because we kept falling asleep. I remember." His voice sounded softer, fainter. Trini's heart leapt in her throat. For the first time in her life, Trini heard Jason when he sounded weak.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh man," Jason breathed. "I really think I hurt something." He groaned, shifted. Trini watched as the wall shifted with his movement. She gasped, watching the wall shift. Trini replaced her morpher to the front of her belt buckle and grasped the wall. She winced, wedging her fingers beneath the wall and started to pull, gasped when she realized there was no strength left in her arms. "Trini, you have to go find some help."

Trini sat back on her heels. She squinted against the dull light in the youth center, strained to see. She could still hear muffled voices, but they were still far enough away so that Trini could say what she'd been thinking. "I can morph," she whispered. "It'll give me enough strength to get you out of here."

"Tree, if you morph…you won't have any strength left after. And if you can't lift a sheet wall, I don't think you can do anything other than huff and puff at it." Trini could practically see the smile on Jason's face. Wanted nothing more than to punch him on the arm and tell him he was crazy. She just needed to know he was okay, first.

"Well, we have to try something," Trini said. She pressed her hands against the sides of her morpher. Took a deep breath, steadied herself as she always did before having to use her morpher. She wasn't quite sure what it was that made her feel uneasy, that made a wave of worry roll through her stomach and clench at her insides.

Something dark and eerie that washed over her only a few moments before the earthquake started. She'd always been in tune with nature, knew the insides and outs of strange feelings, auras and being one with nature. Something evil had landed in Angel Grove and they needed to do something to stop it.

"Yellow Ranger Power," she whispered.

She fully expected to be in her suit within the next few seconds. Expected to take on the power of the saber-tooth tiger and the bear as a power ranger to keep control of her city. And yet, nothing happened. The light on her morpher blinked rapidly, almost as if short circuiting itself. And she had yet to find herself encompassed within her suit with more power than she could ever imagine.

First no communicator.

Then no morpher.

If there was no communicator and no morpher, then that meant something even worse happened. Something happened with Zordon and Alpha or else something had come that they'd never defeat. Even when they faced Ivan Ooze, they had to come to terms with the powers they'd had and lost. Had to come to terms with Zordon's passing before they were able to bring him back.

Trini gasped, feeling something deeply unsettling hit her. Wash over her, Saw it in her mind's eye. Saw destruction of a city, of a desolate planet. Nothing but ash left over from the smoldering buildings that were seconds from falling. Dust blew across the ground in the biting wind, kicking up ash that spread over the motionless bodies of the fallen.

Human and ranger alike.

And, standing in the middle of the ruin was…someone she couldn't quite see. But she could feel him. Could feel the ultimate terror and death and destruction surrounding him. Could feel the power that surged through him. That flowed through the wasteland he'd created. Even with his back turned, she could see the smile on his face. Could feel the sheer admiration for himself as he ran through anyone that got in his way.

And he turned.

Slowly turend toward her.

A low laugh formed.

Lightning struck.

The laughter continued. Growing louder and crueler as the seconds passed. Chills ran down Trini's spine. And then he was looking at her, standing over her sword in hand, tip pressed against her throat. A sword so sharp that even just the tip managed to nick her skin and cause a bead of blood to roll across her throat to the ground below her.

"This death, while meaningless…I'm sad to say I thought you'd put up a stronger fight. You have before," the figure said. "I guess you're not the same across all dimensions." And he pulled his sword back, ready to plunge it through her throat.

Trini gasped, her eyes flying wide open. It took a second for her to realize she was on her back, lying on the ground. A second before she started to thrash and flaily, striking everything near her. Those things just so happened to be Jason, Zack, and Billy.

"Whoa! Trini, whoa!" Zack ducked out of the way of Trini's flailing hands. Jason leaned over and grabbed onto them, keeping her from attacking them even further. "Whoa! Hold on, we're not the enemy here!"

Billy's blue-green eyes shone with concern among the darkened room. He waited for Jason's nod before grasping Trini's shoulders and helping her up into a sitting position. Once sitting up, Trini felt the fear within her subside. Almost as if it hadn't happened in the first place.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice coming out in a whisper.

"We were going to ask you the same thing," Zack declared. His eyes searched Trini's face. "Billy and I came in here to see you flopping all over the ground like a fish out of water. And that's not to say what's happened to Jason."

Trini's eyes shifted to the red ranger, who knelt over her, still holding her hands safely away from her. A gash opened over his forehead, blooding trailing down the side of his face. "I'm okay," he said before Trini could ask. "I just got hit by some concrete when the place collapsed."

"If it wasn't for being a ranger, the hit would've killed him," Billy said. He ran a hand over his mouth, shook his head. "We wouldn't have known where he was if it wasn't for you, Trini," he added. Trini gave him a funny look. "Zack and I were at my place when the earthquake started. We knew you guys were here and thought we'd be able to meet Tommy and Kim here as well. When we got here, we saw the destruction and came to look for you. We saw your morpher glowing and found you."

Trini leveled her gaze to Jason. "How'd you get out?" Her eyes searched his face, always coming back to the gash in his forehead. "I tried to get to you, but I wasn't strong enough."

"Something's going on with our morphers," Jason explained. He briefly closed his eyes. "I…it's hard to explain. Our communicators stopped working. I tried to morph but it didn't work. But our morphers were glowing. When you started convulsing, we saw your morpher and it sent out this energy blast that cleared out the rubble."

"But—"

"—Don't worry," Zack interrupted. "'No one else saw. The same thing happened when the earthquake hit. Our moprhers started to glow, too."

"And I concluded that it was created by the same phenomena," Billy said.

"The earthquake," Trini reasoned.

Billy nodded. "I located the epicenter back to Angel Grove park. It registered as a 7.0 on the Richter scale. On a normal scale, it's an earthquake size that wouldn't even come close to what we saw when we first received our powers. But for it to come so suddenly and without warning from any of the scientists or seismologists at any of the nearby universities, that means it can only be tied back to, well, something out of this world as it were."

Trini nodded, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. "Rita and Zedd?"

"We haven't had any sightings of them since we've last faced them a few days ago," Jason said. He took in a deep breath. "Even without our ties to the Command Center, Rita and Zedd always have to brag about what they're doing. This is something else. We need to find the others."

"Oh man," Zack said, running a hand over his hair. He looked to Billy with concern filled eyes. "You said the epicenter of this thing was at the park? Tommy and Kim were going there today. They might be in trouble."

"We have to get there are soon as possible," Jason agreed. He clenched his hand into a fist. "Even without our powers, without our link to Alpha and Zordon, we still have to protect Angel Grove."

Trini nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

 **A/N:** It may not seem like it, but Trini's vision as well as _Trini_ having that vision, are all happening for a reason. I hope you guys continue to enjoy and I'll update again soon.

 **~Av**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

* * *

"Believe me, you don't look to be a friend that we want to have," Tommy remarked.

Kimberly chuckled. "You got that right," She added.

Lord Drakkon lifted an eyebrow. His fingers twitched towards the sword that sat in the holster by his hip. "Well, I should've guessed there'd be some sort of pushback against you. You always have something witty to say before you can show off any of your power." He turned his head away. "Or, the lack thereof."

Tommy clenched his fists. "Who are you?" He demanded. "What do you want?"

Lord Drakkon made a face. "Now, does that really matter?"

Kimberly stepped forward. "It matters to know the name of the person we're going to defeat," She shot back. Then her gaze shifted back to the discarded item laying on the ground. Saba. She shuddered, but at the same time, couldn't wrap her head around it. It couldn't have been their Saba, _Tommy's_ Saba. Saba was in his possession, but if he was there, if his head was there…?

Fear shot through her, though she tried to keep it from her face. This guy had done something, she realized. Something to Zordon and Alpha is he had Saba. It was like Ivan Ooze all over again. Memories of the purple monster that had destroyed so much of the Command Center, their friends, their home…It had taken everything within them to take him down. This guy, from looks alone, looked like he'd be a tough opponent for them.

Kimberly looked over his face, at the large scar that settled over his cheeks. That came together to a point, a neat 'X' over his nose. There was something sinister in his eyes, yet familiar, Kimberly realized. Almost as if she'd seen him before. Almost as if he were a personal boogeyman who'd come back to haunt her. But she hadn't had any dreams that would've constituted as nightmares as of late.

Not since having moved in with Trini once her mother moved to Paris. She'd had terrible nightmares of her mother abandoning her. Never coming back for her. Never loving her. Even had a monster that tried to pray on those fears. Her life had been simple since then, a monster battle here or there, something would make it harder for them to defeat, but they'd come back and take them down. All the while learning a lesson about something that'd been plaguing their personal life along the way.

What were they going to learn that day?

"Well, whatever you want with Angel Grove, we're not going to let you have it," Tommy declared, every so brave.

Lord Drakkon's lips twitched. A ghost of a smile came to his face. He wasn't one that had many emotions, but when it came to watching those boast a bravado that wouldn't last. Well…he liked to play with his toys a little bit. Especially when the toy in front of him was the one he was specifically targeting. Yes, he decided, he could have a little fun before destroying them both. It would give him a bit of time to let out his pent-up aggression.

"Well, that depends on your fate," Lord Drakkon replied. He lifted his sword from its sheath and pointed it at Tommy.

Kimberly gased, immediately recognizing it. She looked to Tommy, who looked back at her. Both of their eyebrows furrowed together. "That's the Dragon Dagger," Tommy finally murmured. He raised his voice, speaking to Lord Drakkon. "Who are you? How'd you get that dagger?"

Lord Drakkon grinned, teeth gleaming. He held out his arms, starting to take a few steps towards Tommy and Kimberly. The rangers took a step back for each step he took forward. "There's a lot more going on in the world than you all are used to. And I'll be glad to show it to you."

"We'll just see about that," Kimberly said. She and Tommy looked at each other and did the same arm movements at the same time. "Ninja Ranger power!"

"Ninja Ranger power!" Tommy repeated.

They morphed into their ninja suits within seconds, the blinding light of pink and white flashing through the air.

"The crane!"

"The falcon!"

Lord Drakkon's chuckle started off slow and soft. Then grew into loud, raucous laughter. He crossed his arms and waited for the rangers to start toward him. Kimberly moved quickly, almost soaring across the ground towards Lord Drakkon. She watched his face as she moved closer, started to see that Lord Drakkon simply watched her closely.

"Hiya!" Kimberly did a spinning kick towards his head. Lord Drakkon simply ducked his head out the way and lifted his hand, grasping her Achilles tendon. Kimberly squealed in pain from the tight grasp on her muscle before she found herself flipped through the air and landing face first on the ground. She pressed her palms against the ground and lifted her legs, rolling back to her feet.

Just in time to watch Tommy do a flying kick to strike Lord Drakkon as well. Once again, Lord Drakkon simply pulled his head back and repeatedly did so as Tommy continued to lean his weight back on his left leg and send out a flurry of kicks with his right. Lord Drakkon continued to back away, watching Tommy with disinterest as he moved.

Tommy lowered his feet back to the ground and quickly backed away, giving himself a wide berth to watch Lord Drakkon. Kimberly took the chance to charge on Lord Drakkon's blindside. If he was too focused on Tommy, she'd have a good chance to take him down. Kimberly ran forward a few steps, did a cartwheel and sprang herself up and kicked Lord Drakkon on the side on the head.

Lord Drakkon's head snapped to the side. He turned back to Kimberly, glaring at her, and rised his hand, sacking her in the neck with the side of his palm. The blow was solid, one that knocked Kimberly to the ground, bringing her hands up to her throat as she gasped.

"Kim!" Tommy cried.

Then he launched himself towards Lord Drakkon. Together, with flying hands and feet, they worked to take down Lord Drakkon. Where one fell, the other would swoop in to give them the chance to get back to their feet. They didn't have to look at each other to do it. Their ninja spirits worked well together; the falcon and the crane, winged lord and lady of the skies.

Kimberly could feel her inner crane responding to the proximity to Tommy's inner falcon. They grew strength from each other, and that strength kept them going. Lord Drakkon reached out his hands as they raced towards him and grasped them by their faces. He squeezed, making them cry out in pain from the intense pressure, then threw them back to the ground.

Tommy spun back to his feet and looked at Kimberly. "Looks like we're going to have to go with the heavy artillery."

"Right," Kimberly agreed with a nod.

"White Ranger Power!" Tommy cried and morphed into his suit.

"Pink Ranger Power!" Kimberly cried and morphed into her suit.

Lord Drakkon smiled once more. "I was hoping you'd get to this point." He looked down at himself. "I don't want to be overdressed." And with that, he pulled out his morpher and morphed into his suit. A white suit that was very reminiscent to Tommy's own white ranger suit, but with green accents on numerous points.

Tommy and Kimberly gaped at Lord Drakkon's suit. "That looks just like yours," Kimberly breathed, inching closer to her boyfriend. Doom suddenly settled upon her. They weren't any match for this guy. Even if they were to have their friends come in to help. Something about this guy was powerful, she could sense it.

"Who are you?" Tommy demanded.

"I already told you, I'm a friend," Lord Drakkon said. He slowly pulled out his Dragon Dagger, where it glinted in the sun. "Allow me to make you acquaintance." With that, with his dagger held high, Lord Drakkon raced towards the rangers.

He was fast.

Much faster than Tommy or Kimberly could ever hope to be. He raced through them, slashing the two in the sides even before Kimberly knew what happened. She twisted and arched through the air, before falling heavily to the ground. Kimberly landed on her side and moved to get back to her feet but was knocked back to the ground once more.

Tommy, suffering the same fate, managed to bring out his own sword and block himself from Lord Drakkon's. The resulting shockwave of the two swords hitting each other blasted them far apart, where Tommy tumbled head over heels and Lord Drakkon skidded back on his heels. Lord Drakkon slammed his sword into the ground, tip first, and used it as an anchor as he flew back.

Slowing himself down, he pulled back on the sword and used it to launch himself forward, the bend of his sword snapping back and projecting him. He flew towards Tommy and slashed him across the front.

"Argh!" Tommy cried, falling to the ground. He was back up seconds later and hit again and again and again. Kimberly tried to throw herself into the fight but found herself continuously deflected from Tommy's attacks. Shoved away.

This wasn't her fight.

That was clear.

No matter how hard Kimberly tried to protect her boyfriend, to work with her teammate. Whomever it was attacking them, she wasn't a threat to them. Kimberly felt helpless tears come to her eyes. She wasn't useless, as most of their opponents seemed to think. She was strong. Rita and Zedd underestimated her time and time again. Continued to kidnap her and try to use her against the others and she continued to come back on top.

But this guy, whomever they were coming up again, he saw her a little more than a nuisance. And with the strength and speed he used to keep her at bay, she may as well be nothing but a nuisance. Kimberly was struck hard across the face when she charged in to attack once more. So hard that everything around her hummed, blood filled her mouth, her head swam.

"Oh no," Kimberly gasped, falling to her hands and knees. "Come on, get up." Desperate, Kimberly brought her wrist up to her mouth. "Guys, Tommy and I are being attacked in the park! We need your help!"

She heard nothing but static in response from her communicator. "Jason? Trini? Can you hear me?" Still static. She changed the frequency and spoke again. "Zordon, Alpha, Tommy and I are in trouble. The others aren't answering their communicator." Once again, static. Kimberly's heart dropped, realization settling into her. "Zordon, Alpha, come in!"

She gasped, as an energy wave blasted through the air, knocking her to her side. A shockwave of two powerful forces coming together. Kimberly looked over to see parks shot off Tommy's suit and into the air as he fell to his knees, desperately trying to stay up.

Kimberly gasped. That was never a good sign. Once sparks started to fly from their suits, from overpowered shots, it weakened their link to the morphing grid. Their suits would end up losing power and if they lost enough power to de-morph…no matter what being a ranger did to them, they were still human. They could still die if things became too dire.

"Tommy!"

Lord Drakkon looked toward her when she called for her boyfriend. Maybe he heard the anguish in her voice, the desperation. But something had him pause in his footsteps, sword held overhead. He could've gone after her, but didn't. He didn't seem concerned that there were others that could've come to their aid. Almost as if he knew everything they were going to do before they did it.

And that ranger suit…

"What are you?" Kimberly whimpered.

Lord Drakkon's eyes narrowed. "I could've been you," he said. He stood over Tommy and grabbed him on the neck, lifting him up. Tommy gasped, brought both hands to his neck, worked to break free. "But time has a way of way of making sure things line up later."

He slowly dragged Tommy to his feet, turned him so that he faced him. Lord Drakkon looked into Tommy's face and shook his head. "I thought you would've put up a better fight," Lord Drakkon remarked. He tightened his grasp on Tommy's shoulder. "But you never were as strong as you thought yourself to be." He twisted Tommy around, holding the white ranger's back against his chest, held his arm around Tommy's neck. "Believe me, I know you better than you think." He tightened his grasp on the hilt of his dagger and pulled his arm back.

Kimberly's heart stopped. "No!" she screamed.

With a snarl, Lord Drakkon ran his sword through Tommys back, the tip poking through his chest.

Blood dripped to the ground.

Kimberly's inner crane let out a mournful cry.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, I'm sure you all didn't expect it to happen so soon, but…it had to happen that way. I hope you all enjoyed this one as well. Chapters will get longer.

 **~Av**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

Kimberly's Crane wasn't the one that let out the mournful cry once the Falcon was taken down. The Ape, The Bear, The Wolf, and The Frog all cried out as well, though their cries were drowned out by the Crane. The Crane repeatedly cried, as if trying to wake the falcon that would never wake again.

Lord Drakkon, upon seeing the end of the Falcon, chuckled to himself. He looked down at Kimberly who hovered over Tommy's prone body, wracked with sobs. Unaware of the danger that watched her. Lord Drakkon walked over and pressed his foot to Kimberly's side. She flinched but didn't move, still held onto Tommy's body as he pushed her over.

Tommy rolled atop of her, the wound in his back leaked blood across the ground. Lord Drakkon watched, tilting his head aside as Tommy's blood started to slow, his body wracking with huge gasps. A death rattle. A death rattle that continued to weaken as the seconds passed.

"Tommy," Kimberly whispered, holding him closer. Ignoring Lord Drakkon. "Tommy, hold on. Please. You're going to be oaky. You can't do this."

"Pity," Lord Drakkon remarked. "I hoped he would've put up a bigger fight." He stepped toward Kimberly and placed the end of his sword to her neck. Kimberly didn't flinch. She simply turned her gaze up and glared at him. "You're not afraid of me," he remarked.

Kimberly gritted her teeth. She clutched Tommy's body so hard that she started to shake. "You're not going to win," she hissed. "No matter what you're trying to do…it's not going to work. We're going to stop you."

"We'll see about that," Lord Drakkon said. He removed the sword from her neck and took a step back. I can't wait until we meet again." With that, the area around him seemed to warp as he teleported from sight.

Kimberly bent her head and sobbed over Tommy's body, holding him tightly. She hardly reacted when she felt the familiar tingling in her body before she was teleported to the Command Center. Hardly reacted when she was powered down and continued to hold Tommy's body. Hardly reacted when she heard her friends' horrified and shocked cries of surprise before bursting into loud and long sobs.

Or maybe it was still her.

She cried and cried, holding onto her boyfriend. Onto the love of her life. The best thing that'd ever happened to her. He died the way he had lived, fearlessly, hoping to protect her and everyone else he loved. The look on his face, the expression that was almost serene, staring into nothing as Kimberly held him.

His breathing was very quiet then.

Slowly growing weaker and weaker as the seconds passed.

His lips moved, straining to say something.

But the words never came.

His eyes shut halfway, lips slackened, head tilted to the side.

The great white ranger was gone.

A loud, long cry filled the air as Kimberly screamed—the cry of the crane. As Alpha short-circuited through his grief. As Zordon lowered his head and let out a low, painful sounding, "hmm" having lost one of his warriors. Trini sucked in a sharp breath, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. Her chest heaved, working hard to make sense of what she was seeing.

A white light flashed through the Command Center, making the shape of a falcon that held its head high. The falcon cawed, lifting its head before majestically taking off up through the ceiling, disappearing in seconds.

Jason sucked in a deep breath, started to sob. Then stopped once more. He placed his hands on his hips, turned away and lowered his head. His shoulders shaking was the giveaway that the red ranger wasn't as strong as he'd wanted to be.

"No," Zack whispered. "No, I don't…what hap—" he broke off.

Billy wiped at his eyes. He sucked in a sharp breath. But didn't cry. Tears dripped down his face but didn't outwardly cry. No, he'd seen too much pain through his life to cry, no matter the pain of losing his friend could be.

A friend who'd lost his life too soon.

"What do we do?" Trini asked. Her voice was a whisper. "What are we supposed to do? People will ask…his parents…? I don't know…"

She turned away, closing her eyes. A tear slipped down her cheek. Zack slipped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side. His lower jaw trembled though he fought to keep himself together.

"We have to tell them," Jason's voice broke through the silence. "We have to tell everyone what happened. Our parents…his parents can't have a cover story on what happened." He took a deep breath and looked to Kimberly, almost as if for permission despite being the leader of the team. "We have to let them know the truth, that he…that he gave his life to protect the city. We have to tell…everyone…that we're the power rangers."

Billy, Trini, and Zack exchanged worried glances. It wasn't anything they thought too much about before. When they first started out as rangers, it was a thought that came to mind, but Zordon and Alpha had shut the idea down as soon as it came to mind. They couldn't reveal their identities, or they'd lose their powers.

Would they do it now?

Just to make it so that Tommy got the funeral he deserved.

Kimberly, who continued who clutch Tommy's body to her took in a deep breath. Her tears slowed to a stop. She sniffled loudly and brought a hand up to wipe away her tears, smearing a few specks of blood on her chin. She looked up at her friends, at Jason, and nodded.

"We have to," she said. She took in another shuddering breath. "We have to let them know."

"But Kim," Trini said slowly. "If we tell…we'll lose our powers."

"Yeah, we have to think this through," Zack agreed. He swallowed hard, turning away as shame came to his eyes. What was he saying? That he cared more about his powers than he did about a fallen friend? Who could think like that? "We…we have to figure out if it's something we can truly decide to do."

"Tommy would want us to do it!" Kimberly snapped.

"I know that, Kim. But—"

"—But you care more about your powers? Is that it?" Kimberly clutched her boyfriend's prone body closer to her. "You care that you're going to lose your precious powers and not that we just lost one of your friends!"

"Kim," Trini pleaded. "He's not saying that!"

"Like hell, he's not!" Kimberly's jaw quivered and she lowered her head over Tommy's body, pressing her forehead to his chest, as if trying to hear his heartbeat. A hear that'd never beat again.

Billy took a step forward. Always more levelheaded than the others, he spoke calmly though there were tinges of pain in his voice. It surely did radiate through his blue-green eyes. "He's not saying that, Kimberly. We've all sacrificed everything for this and…" he swallowed hard. "We have to think about what we're going to do moving forward. If we tell about our powers, we're not just putting ourselves out in the forefront for danger. But our families, too. Additionally, we're going to leave Angel Grove defenseless if Rita and Zedd want to attack after we give up our powers."

Kimberly shook her hair from her face, staring blankly at the wall in front of her.

"Can you hold that on your conscience?" Billy asked.

At that, Kimberly turned a glare his way and muttered something under her breath that sounded like, "Fuck you, Billy," that made Billy blink in surprise. He'd never so much as heard Kimberly say a bad word to anyone—other than Bulk and Skull—and certainly hadn't heard him her ever curse at anyone.

Billy watched her, saw the pain that swam through her eyes, dulling the bright hazel to a dark green. Wondered what it'd be like to every feel that sort of pain and simultaneously hoped he never would. His father had been affected greatly by his mother's passing from cancer. He'd seen how everything changed through his father's pain.

Kimberly—and the rest of them by extension—was much too young to go through it. How were you supposed to get through life…how were you supposed to be sixteen years old and see death so early? Death of grandparents and older relatives were expected.

But deaths of friends?

They were too young.

It should never happen.

But when you're the one who puts themselves into that danger…

Finally, Kimberly stood up and wiped her tears from her cheeks. She took a deep breath and nodded to Jason. "We have to tell," She said. Her eyes skimmed over all her friends, looking deep into them, letting them know how serious she was. "Tommy would want that. Tommy would want us to tell his parents what really happened. But…we'll have to pretend we didn't know. Pretend that we hadn't found out. That we _aren't_ rangers. Tommy would want that, too. He wouldn't want us to give up everything for him, even though he gave up everything for us."

"For the city," Trini agreed.

Kimberly nodded.

Trini stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the pink ranger. Kimberly allowed the hug, flinging her arm around Trini's waist, pressing her face into her best friend's chest. Trini rested her head atop Kimberly's, gently stroking her hair as they stood in silence.

Billy and Zack looked to Jason, who stood tall and firm while looking down at his best friend. Then Jason lifted his chin and nodded, making Billy and Zack nod in response.

They were decided.

They had to tell.

* * *

Alpha sadly shook his head as he looked over Tommy's prone body. If it were for how…unnatural he looked, Alpha would've simply thought he was sleeping. His face was relaxed but…waxy. Like a statue ready to be put on display. If it weren't for the blood that had bubbled and dried on the front of his shirt like a wilting rose…

Alpha turned back to Zordon, lifting his chin. Zordon eyed him sadly in response, looking away. For the first time in a long time, Zordon had no answers, had nothing to say. Had no idea how to give solace to any of the rangers, let alone his longest companion.

"I can't believe he's gone," Alpha finally said, what felt like hours later. It may have only been minutes, maybe only seconds. There was only so much that could be said or done. "Tommy is the greatest leader I've seen for these guys. Without him…I don't know what's going to happen to the power rangers."

"It's not the city I'm worried about Alpha," Zordon explained. "Not the rangers. Their families are going to be affected, too. Once this gets out, once they find out their identities…I hope they know what they're getting into."

Alpha looked at his friend, appalled. Had his friend forgotten how the rangers had sacrificed everything to help them? They could've easily turned around and said 'no' when they were first told about the powers they were going to take on. He and Zordon would've just turned around and found someone else to help defend Angel Grove from Rita's threat.

But they'd grown a special bond with the teenagers that ended up becoming a small family. They went to Zordon for the advice they couldn't ask their families. They went to Alpha for some fun during their practices, and for additional support from Zordon's words—words that could become harsh at times—and taught him what it was like to be a teenager in their time. Their family got them through some of the hardest times they had.

To know one of those family members was gone…?

Alpha didn't know what to do. If he cried, if he had the ability to cry, he would've short circuited himself and the power rangers would be down one more key player on their team.

"There may be a way," Zordon said.

Alpha looked up at his oldest friend in wonder.

"There may be a way to get him back," Zordon continued. He looked down at Alpha with an expression Alpha had never seen before. One he couldn't place. "There may be a way to make it that all of this never happened. When that other ranger came through, there was a power spike we were able to discern. I think, if we can figure out where that power spike came from, we might be able to bring Tommy back."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, again it took me a bit longer to get this chapter out. I changed my mind on what to do with it about ten times and this is the result I liked the most. But there's more coming you guys. I'm excited for it!

 **~Av**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

How do you grieve?

How do you grieve when it's someone who's close to you? How do you grieve when it's someone that shouldn't have died? That shouldn't have been taken so soon? An older person, that was easy to handle. You were expecting them to go at some point. It was a way of life; you're born, you live, you die. And when it gets to the point that your mortality is staring you in the face, everyone around you is aware and ready for you to pass. Maybe emotionally, maybe rationally, but not until the moment comes. When the moment comes, you're still blindsided. You didn't know the last conversation you'd have is the last conversation.

You didn't know the last hug would be the last hug. You don't know the last time you say 'I love you' would most certainly be the last time you would ever be able to say 'I love you'. And what about those that didn't know their end was coming? Those that were convinced they still had more days after what they were given? Those who knew they were in the hospital for something minor and didn't know they wouldn't make it out? Those that didn't understand their cough wasn't just a cough and that their antibiotics and cold medicines weren't going to work.

Those were the easy ones to handle. Minds could be wrapped around it easier. A more rational thought. What was nearly impossible was what the rangers were facing for the rest of their lives. Their own mortality. And, not that they thought of it much, the mortality of those in Angel Grove.

It was a distressing thought, how many lives they may have lost over the years due to faulty evacuation plans. Those that couldn't get out of their offices fast enough, before a robotic arm came punching through the steel and glass that rained over everyone inside. Those that decided to camp out in the mountains and may or may not have gotten stepped on or crushed when said robot fell over. Then there were the collapsing buildings, the ones that imploded from the sheer force-or sonic boom-of the ranger and monster of the day colliding. And then the powers of the monster in general, before they grew big they attacked the same places; the high school, the park, the beach, populous areas of Angel Grove.

If there were one or more monster that had the ability to control minds or people, those people were goners. Ivan Ooze had already been a difficult one to work with, making it so that the parents and all other adults of Angel Grove came under his spell and threatened to throw themselves to their doom off a cliff. That had been a particularly tough one to handle, watching as they came closer and closer to the edge as the rangers flew across the city, trying to stop the metallic creatures Ivan Ooze had the mind controlled patients resurrect.

But those weren't the most damaging deaths to think of. They heard it on the news every now and then; a child accidentally left in a locked car, a child not looking when they crossed the street, a child suffered some sort of a freak accident. That was the point, they were all accidents. Little things that weren't able to be avoided or stopped as it was already too late. A fate-or destiny-that was set in motion by little moments and decisions that couldn't be taken back.

But what do you do if it's a teenager? What do you do if it was a teenager who had everything going for them? A great life with his adoptive parents. (There was a time where things were a bit rough, the realization of being lied to for the majority of a person's life was difficult to swallow). A great girlfriend who was nothing more than supportive; who took him out of his shell and gave him some of the best friends he had. Friends that took him in and treated him like he was one of them from the get go.

How does someone like that get taken down?

And how do you grieve?

It wasn't a teenage suicide. You grieve those by reaching out to everyone near them and wondering if there were signs they missed. You grieved by thinking of all the things _you_ may have missed when in their last interactions with you. You put out an obituary that didn't have the manner of death written on it in case there were copycats. You didn't know what to do. You become numb and cry and scream and wonder what it's going to take to get the person back because they were just too damn young to have taken themselves out like that.

How do you grieve if said teen died in a car accident? You check to see what the source of the accident was. Who was to blame. Were they texting? Were they drinking? Were they driving too fast? Was it the _other_ person's fault? Were _they_ drinking? Were _they_ texting? Were _they_ driving too fast? What was it that really happened? And did they feel anything within the last few seconds of their life? Were they in pain? Were they alone?

It was easier to understand all those things. Easier, because those teens weren't Power Rangers. They were the normal ones. They were the ones who had their entire lives to life for. When you were a Power Ranger, you gave up your life when you signed up for the the intergalactic battle. You knew you were giving up a part of yourself to take care of the city and everyone in it. You understood you were running the risk of anything happening when you went out there. But you did it anyway.

So what did that mean for Tommy? Who made it a point to live life to the fullest in both parts of his life, when he was Tommy Oliver and not "Tommy the Power Ranger". He could spend the day with Kimberly and his friends and have a great day for himself. A day of training and then some time to destress from it all. A time where he could be the one who made his own decisions as the days went on.

He was doing everything he should have been doing, and he was struck down by the cruelest of monsters they'd ever come up against. The worst part, they felt, was that they didn't get the chance to see the face of the monster that took him down. That took the coward's way out and rammed a sword through his back. Where, had the rest of the rangers been there, they all could have been taken down the same way.

That they could grieve. The unknown. The question of whether or not they'd wind up with the same fate. Having a sword take them down when they least expected it. They could grieve losing someone that'd grown close to them in their attempt to take down the danger that came to their city. They could grieve the ranger side of him. They couldn't grieve losing the human side of Tommy.

Jason didn't know what to do upon his return from the Command Center. He found himself moving in a fog to his room, taking the stairs so slowly that he nearly fell upon each step, his shins hitting each mark as he went. He grasped the banister as tightly as he could, it keeping him up as he went. A million thoughts swirled through his mind; "This can't be true." "It isn't true." "He's just playing a joke on us." "He'll bounce back."

But the more rational part of himself knew it to be true. Saw it with his own eyes. Saw the way Kimberly held onto Tommy's prone body that didn't respond to her touch. He was gone, and wouldn't be able to lead the team, their friends, ever again. It was a selfish thought, Jason realized, as he lowered himself to his bed. That he wouldn't have anyone to spar with. That he had to find someone new to figure out who would be able to keep up with his own skill. How could he be so selfish at a moment like that?

When would he be allowed to again?

Trini struggled on her walk home. Numerous times she tried to call her parents, tried to tell them what was going on, but found herself hanging up before she could let the phone ring long enough to connect them. Her mind was selfish in another aspect. They all agreed to tell their identities. What would happen after that? Would they lose their own powers? Would they have to watch as their parents were transferred to other people?

Would they never be able to use their powers again? What would happen to their families once they spilled their secret? Did it matter so much, knowing what Tommy's family was then going to go through? The thoughts kept Trini in a daze until she stepped through the front door of her home and heard her mother's familiar Vietnamese greeting. Then she broke into tears.

Zack went home and immediately went to his room, blasting music as he worked into a frenzied, angry dance move. Anything that would keep his body moving so that he wouldn't let himself get distracted by the new reality he'd have to live up to. Maybe, he was seconds away from losing his powers. But it was more than that. He may be seconds away from losing his parents. Losing their trust. Losing the way they looked at him. But he'd lost more than that already. A best friend. Someone who he would follow into the flames of hell because he trusted him so much.

He danced and danced, tuning out the sound of his father's banging on his bedroom door with a closed fist and shouting at the top of his lungs to, "Turn the goddamn music down!"

But he kept dancing, even when the door to his room opened—it didn't take much for the locks to be picked in their house—even when his father went to the music player in the corner and silenced the room, that made Zack screech to a stop, chest heaving.

"Damn it, Zack, do you know there are other people in this house?" Mr. Taylor demanded. Zack didn't respond. "How could you be so selfish?" Zack lifted his chin and looked his father in the eye. His father looked back at him, expression immediately changing, noticing something in his son's face that Zack was hoping to push back. "What? What is it, Zack? What happened"

Zack fell to his knees, his father hurrying to gather him in his arms. The sound of the two guys falling to the floor gathered the attention of his mom, who wrapped her arms around him as well, rocking him as if he were a child again. Zack clung to his parents, wishing, more than anything, that he could go back to being a child again.

Things were much simpler.

Billy didn't grieve. He'd stopped grieving a long time ago. It seemed that part of him managed to mentally shut it down, cut it off completely when his mother died. Took a step back from anything that had to do with it. Worked hard at everything else, maybe, in a way, to still make her proud, wherever she ended up. And he did the same, after getting back from the Command Center. He'd arrived in his garage lab and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, looking around at all the work he'd been doing. His father never went inside, so he was more than clear to leave his workings on morphers, communicators, and new weapons out on the bench. Hoping to get more progress when he had time away from the Command Center, when inspiration struck.

But inspiration didn't strike that time. He didn't feel that gnawing in his chest that was excitement at creation ready to come forward. He didn't have a million ideas running through his head about what he wanted to make next, what he wanted to fix, what he wanted to improve.

Nothing.

He felt absolutely nothing.

Kimberly didn't know what to do. She didn't want to leave the Command Center, didn't want to leave him. But she had to. She went to the Oliver's, to break the news to them. They were like family to her. The loving parents she never had. She went to their house, parked out front, got ready to go inside. Then froze. How could she do it? How could she be the one to go in and tell them what had happened to their son? How could she be the one to explain to them everything they'd been going through, with their double life? He was the one who should've been doing that, telling them the truth. They should've done it together, every other time they had the chance. What held them back?

A vain need to be wanted, needed by the city, despite how much danger it put their families in on a daily basis. Despite how many lies they had to tell and distrust they put into their parents just to leave to save the city one more time. But to be the one to tell them the truth about what caused him to be stabbed? To tell them the truth that he was stabbed? To break their hearts as much as hers was broken?

She couldn't do that.

Could hardly think of how she'd get the words past her lips. If she had, it'd become real. Everything would be real. Nothing would be right again.

She couldn't do it.

She tore away from their house and sped home as fast as she could, barely breaking for red lights. Maybe that was the point. Maybe she just hurt so much she wanted the pain to go away, even if it was a few moments of unconsciousness. But, she couldn't hurt other people like that. She wasn't that selfish.

Kimberly arrived home to an empty house. "Mom?" She called, surprised to hear how quiet, how whimpering her voice was. She couldn't remember the last time she'd called for her mother like that. When she'd skinned her knee. When she fell off a swing. When bullies had pulled her hair. When mean girls had tormented her in middle school.

She'd grown stronger since then, not just because of the ranger powers, but stronger as a person. If she knew something like this, something that had always been a potential, was coming, she may not have taken it in the first place.

It was better to have loved and lost and not loved at all.

Yeah, right.

What bunch of crap.

"Mommy?"

Kimberly waited, her head sagging when she didn't hear her mother's voice in response. She fished her phone out from her purse and started to dial her mother's number, then stopped. She was seconds away from having her mother's words to calm her down. But knew it was futile. Her mother was too busy, with her latest boyfriend, with her job, with her clients. There were too many other things that seemed to matter.

Too many things that mattered more than…

More than what?

More than the young man whose body laid up in the Command Center as they all worked to figure out what to do, how to move on, how to grieve.

And Kimberly sank tot eh floor, grieving by herself.

* * *

 **A/N:** I had originally intended to have things move forward to the funeral and life after and all that, but this came to me and I had to write it down. Thanks to everyone who was there for my 'live writing' session, who asked questions, and who saw this one chapter coming to fruition.

 **~Av**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

Lord Drakkon tilted his head to the side as he looked over Tommy's body. At the body of his doppelganger. He'd been telling the truth when he'd said he'd thought Tommy would have put up a better fight, a stronger fight. He was fighting himself, after all.

No, he thought. Not himself. Not quite. He wasn't the original, he was the copy. He was the one who wasn't really supposed to exist. So what made it so wrong if he were able to take down the one, to take down Tommy, who he thought, rightfully should've been the one to experience that pain? Nevertheless, Tommy was supposed to be the greatest ranger of all time. So as time was to tell.

So as the public of Angel Grove had said. Lord Drakkon watched the response to the Power Rangers with a curly of his upper lip, seeing how they fawned over the rainbow-colored heroes as if they were God's gift to Earth. They had parades, whole days, even the rumored holiday in response to the Power Rangers' presence. Fell all over themselves to catch a glimpse of the rangers when something was going down. Sometimes, even getting in the way to watch the action just to say there were there.

"All that over a boy like this," Lord Drakkon remarked. At the 'boy' who laid quietly on the metal slab of the morgue, skin cold and pale. Lips blue. A ghastly sheen over is skin. "He couldn't even hold me back. Some ranger." Then again, he wasn't quite sure what he had expected. He'd defeated stronger people within seconds, slicing their throats open with the tip of his sword, delivered a punch to the chest so hard that lungs deflated and the other asphyxiated, crushed ribs so that the jagged edges pierced a heart.

There'd been some interesting ways he'd learned to kill people over the years. He'd hoped it would've been a much harder fight than knocking him down and shoving a sword through his back. That girl with him, Kimberly, she'd tried. But she wasn't his target. He could've crushed her skull in seconds if he really wanted to. She was as pesky as a fly buzzing around him, getting in the way.

His fight wasn't with her, he kept batting her away, trying to work Tommy into something more challenging. He'd spent so much time practicing his martial arts, keeping himself and his body finely turned to everything around him and he had to deal with those two cretins instead. It was much more satisfying to do a kill when the other person begged for their lives. When they would give literally anything to see a glimmer of humanity within the person that had the means to end their life in seconds.

Lord Drakkon didn't care. He enjoyed watching the glimmering light die from the victim's eyes. Enjoyed hearing the screams of terror and anguish, knowing their life was about to end. There was a specific time of torture he remembered that had given him so much pleasure. She'd fought back, tooth and nail, scratching and clawing at him until her demise. But it wasn't her fighting that surprised him, that made him take pause, it was the stark contrast to her otherwise docile personality. She didn't do much to stand out among his other prisoners, would barely look at him, her blue eyes flickering toward him then away within seconds.

But she fought hard. She kicked and scratched and screamed. Didn't give up even as she was seconds away from perishing, the life slipping from her eyes. But that was the interesting part, the thing that made her stand out among the rest of the people he'd murdered. Despite her life giving way, despite the way her body heavily landed on the floor, arm outstretched as if trying to get one last dig in at him, the fire in her eyes never went out.

She was dead, as dead as a doornail. He'd kicked her over and stabbed a sword through her abdomen to be sure. But she still had a fire in her eyes that haunted him longer than he thought he could ever be haunted. She was the only one to unnerve him.

Because, in the back of his mind, he knew it was only a matter of time until there was someone out there who could actually take him down. And that's why he was being sure to take down any threat that could come his way. His revenge plan against the real Tommy was his first plan, taking down anyone that got in his way was the second. So what if things moved out of order?

It just meant he had to regroup.

Because if those rangers were the same as he'd known them before, they wouldn't take Tommy's death lying down. Not without a fight. And so Lord Drakkon waited, waited for them to hunt him down. Instead, he was surprised to find them…beaten down. Grieving. Worrying about their fallen friend whose funeral was to be the next day. They hardly left the house, tried to keep moving forward but didn't otherwise pay much attention to the world around them.

Kimberly cried and cried and cried.

How annoying.

How useless. There was no need to waste that many tears over any one person. Lord Drakkon had hardened himself to that ages ago, felt nothing but intense irritation toward her that he wanted to slit her throat then and there. But for someone who was supposed to be inconspicuous with their interdimensional travel, another ranger dead wouldn't do anything.

Lord Drakkon could only imagine what would happen once they revealed they were Power Rangers, once it was obvious the White Ranger was no longer in commission. Would the city mourn or would they get over him quickly?

As quickly as Lord Drakkon was forgotten about?

The bitterness filled him once more, making Lord Drakkon tighten his grasp along the hilt of his sword. He fingers drummed against it, chest swelling with unbridled rage. He looked down at the body in front of him, resisting the urge to tear it limb from limb and throw the then torn appendages around the room. Kept himself from doing so, knowing the more he disturbed, the more evidence there would be against him. _This century is much more advanced than mine, of course,_ Lord Drakkon reminded himself.

As it was, he was sure the Coinless were prepared to come after him.

And he was ready to take them down.

But first…how interesting would it be to go to the funeral and reveal that Tommy Oliver was, in fact, still alive.

* * *

 **A/N:** It took me way too long to get back to this story. Like, way too long. But re-reading what I already had reminded me of where I was going with it and here I am again! Thank you all for being so patient with me as I work to update more frequently.

And thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so much!

 **~Av**


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